


To think of ourselves collectively

by scrollgirl



Category: The West Wing
Genre: Community: tww_minis, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-01
Updated: 2010-02-01
Packaged: 2017-10-06 22:19:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/58332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scrollgirl/pseuds/scrollgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>C.J. corners Josh and demands to know why she now has a goldfish named Gail.</p>
            </blockquote>





	To think of ourselves collectively

**Author's Note:**

  * For [castaliae](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=castaliae).



> Written for [](http://castaliae.livejournal.com/profile)[**castaliae**](http://castaliae.livejournal.com/) for the [CJ Cregg round](http://community.livejournal.com/tww_minis/21596.html) of [](http://community.livejournal.com/tww_minis/profile)[**tww_minis**](http://community.livejournal.com/tww_minis/) ([master list](http://community.livejournal.com/tww_minis/25802.html)).

The president and Leo shook hands with Judge Mendoza one last time before Sam and Toby escorted the judge and his staff to the North-west entrance. With one hairy eyeball, Mrs. Landingham swiftly dispersed the crowd that had gathered, leaving CJ to stalk Josh back to the bullpen.

Like prey scenting the wind for danger, Josh tipped his head to one side then twisted his body around as he walked. "Are you following me?" he asked, startled to find her hard on his heels.

CJ grinned widely, a Cheshire grin. "Joshua, Joshua, Joshua," she sang out, grabbing him by the arm and steering him past his office and into hers. "Get your ass in here." She shut the door in Carol's curious face.

Josh backed up a step, hands held out defensively. "Uh-oh. Should I be afraid for my life right now?"

"Well, gee. I don't know, Josh," said CJ, pacing toward him, her grin fading away as she mustered up some indignation. "Can you think of any reason, _any reason at all_, why your life might be in danger from me right now?"

Josh's eyebrows hiked up his forehead as he put on his best 'who me?' expression. Too bad his best innocent expression wasn't all that convincing. "Um. No, not really?"

CJ crossed her arms with a scowl. "You sure about that?" She took a step forward, and then another, getting right into his personal space.

"I swear to you, CJ," Josh protested. "There's not one single reason why you should be mad at me right now. In fact, I even did you a favour! I told Danny --" He broke off, mouth flapping open for a second before he closed it with a snap. "Oh."

Leaning in close, so that they were practically nose-to-nose, CJ waited a beat. "Yes, Josh? You told Danny what, exactly?"

A bit alarmed by her proximity and fierce glare, and reasonably so, Josh backed up until his thighs hit the edge of her desk, jostling everything on its surface.

"Hey!" CJ exclaimed, diving to steady the fish bowl even though it had barely rocked from the impact. "Would you be careful? You nearly asphyxiated Gail."

Josh stared, eyes wide as saucers, at CJ's new pet. "You named it Gail?" he asked in complete bewilderment.

"_I_ didn't name her Gail, the guy at the _pet store_ named her Gail." CJ brought the bowl close to her face, making little fishy faces at it. For a second, Josh considered pointing out how ridiculous she looked with her lips pouting out like that, but then he remembered that he liked his job and his dignity and his eardrums, and so kept quiet.

"I didn't know you liked fish," he said finally, figuring that was a relatively benign comment, safe enough for her mood. "You always seemed more like a cat person to me."

She gave him a withering look through the belly of the fish bowl, the glass and the water distorting her features so that she really did look a bit like a goldfish. Josh bit his lip, then added quickly, "I had a cat, growing up."

"Uh-huh."

"But she didn't like me very much." He made a face at the memory.

"I think your cat and I would've gotten along pretty well, don't you think?"

"Yeah? Well, you...!" He flailed for a suitable come-back. "You like fish!"

CJ snorted. "I like _Goldfish_," she said pointedly, setting the fish bowl gently down on her desk.

"I _know_ you like Goldfish," he protested. "That's what I said, I said 'CJ likes Goldfish' -- oh." He looked at Gail nibbling along the bottom of her glass bowl. "Huh. I guess he didn't get that I meant the cheese crackers."

"No, Josh, he didn't get that you meant the cheese crackers." Sighing deeply, CJ walked around her desk to collapse in her chair. "Josh, sometimes I really could just murder you, you know that?" Even sitting down, with a solid piece of office furniture between them, she still managed to exude a weary sort of menace. "In cold blood and everything."

But Josh had gotten CJ's number a long time ago, her first day on the campaign when she had defended Sam and told Toby to suck it up and play nice with the others kiddies. He knew she was only putting on being pissed to hide how touched she was.

"He gave you a goldfish." Unbidden, a smile crept out. "That's so... sweet."

CJ's eyes crinkled at the corners as she laughed silently. "Yeah, it really was." She shook her head. "Don't tell him I said that. He'll think he's making progress."

"Danny's a good guy! You should give him a chance." Josh felt it was a solemn duty of the brotherhood, the code of guys everywhere, to help your buddies score points with their women. "He's smart, he's funny, he's got all his own teeth --"

"He's the senior White House correspondent for the Washington Post, I'm the White House press secretary." She threw her hands up in the air. "You know I can't date him!"

"Well, technically you could, if you wanted." He shrugged. "There's nothing in your contract that says you can't date the press."

"Right, okay. You don't think the reporter for the Times might have a problem with that? Or AP, or the Tribune?" She couldn't imagine having to reassure the press corps that she was not, in no way, playing favourites even though, yeah, okay, she already was playing favourites.

"On the other hand, we'd have a top-notch reporter doing his best to play nice with the White House so he doesn't have to get it from the little woman at home," Josh threw in. As soon as he said it, though, he grimaced and shook his head. "Okay, yeah. Bad idea."

"Danny wouldn't do that." CJ was adamant, certain of Danny's ethics. "You know he wouldn't do that."

Rubbing his face with both hands, Josh slid into the visitor's chair. "Of course he wouldn't do that. I shouldn't have even suggested it."

"You shouldn't have," she chastised him. A pause, then hopefully: "Did he give you anything on Lillienfield?"

Josh's own withering look was muted by his obvious worry. "No. But he got me thinking in the right direction."

She met his gaze with a serious look of her own. "Whatever Lillienfield's got, we need to stay ahead of it, Josh." They'd learned from experience that if they weren't on offence, they were on defence, and being on defence meant they were getting beat.

"Then we'll stay ahead of it," he replied, putting as much confidence as he could in his tone. "We'll get it done, CJ."

"Okay," she said, satisfied. They sat together for a minute, silently contemplating victories and losses, Mendoza and Lillienfield and the coming battles.

Finally, CJ tapped the space bar of the keyboard to wake up her laptop. "Okay, get out of here. I have work to do."

Josh stood, stretched, then shuffled over to open the door. "By the way," he said, turning back. "I like your fish."

"Oh, go away," she laughed, waving him out.


End file.
